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Tour Rundown: When Brooks Koepka is on (and healthy)…
The first weekend in February brought touring golfers to distinct desert locations: Phoenix and Saudi Arabia. The Phoenix Open and the Saudi International featured powerhouse fields, affording viewers across the world an opportunity to watch tension build and greatness triumph. In neither case were the viewers disappointed. Until the spring truly arrives, the world’s other major tours (LPGA, Korn Ferry, Champions) will have staggered starts. Get comfortable for now with the potent, one-two punch of US and Euro PGA Tours.
PGA Tour: Phoenix Open is Koepka’s 8th Tour title
Brooks Koepka now has as many non-major, PGA Tour titles as he does majors. His second Phoenix Open arrived six years after his first, and it came by the slimmest of margins for a second time. Koepka and other chasers benefitted from spotty play by overnight leaders Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele. The inability of the final tandem to separate from the field offered great hope, and the pursuers took advantage. The first to fire, and fall back, was James Hahn. Remembered for his Gangnam Style dance at the 16th hole last decade, Hahn reached six-under on the day, and 19-deep for the week, until the limelight reeled him in. Four bogies from the 11th hole on, including both par-five holes and the pitch’n putt 17th, relegated him to a 10th place finish. Next came Carlos Ortiz, whose six birdies and one eagle brought him to first place, on the strength of a 64. Alas, Ortiz began too far back, and made one bogey too many, to reach Koepka-ville. It was the West Palm Leviathan who seized the event late, but with a soft touch, not a disintegrating strike.
When Koepka is on…
No one plays better. Koepka combines the raw power of a long-drive champion with the surgeon’s touch of a short-game wizard. When they pair, he is unstoppable. How else to consider the beautiful pitch and run that he played from nowhere at the 17th hole? His tee shot brought him within feet of the green, but left a swale between him and a tucked hole location. Eschewing a safe play, the four-time major titleist took dead aim at the flag, landed his lofter just past the fringe, and smiled as it rolled, obediently, toward the promised land. As if its destiny had always been to find the bottom of the cup, the ball diverged not one iota. The eagle two jumped Koepka to 19-deep, the number that would ultimately hold Xander Schauffele and Kyoung-Hoon Lee at bay.
When others falter
Oh, the list is long for this one. Begin with Jordan Spieth, who had everyone in a time capsule headed for 2014. His third-round 61 preceded a last-day 72, and a tumble from first to fourth. Spieth was tentative, and his putter cooled off significantly from Saturday. The good news is, he made it 75% of the way back; the bad news is that he had the hard 25% to go. Xander Schauffele, Spieth’s playing partner, played uninspired golf as well … until he stopped … then restarted. Schauffele stood two-over on the day when he reached the 15th tee. Birdie there and birdie at 16 brought him to the leader’s doorstep, until he went hard-left at 17 and found the water. A closing birdie at 18 brought him into a tie for 2nd with Lee, and reminded him what might have been, had he played 17 better.
And others leave with optimism
Steve Stricker, that old guy from Wisconsin, that Ryder Cup captain, has put aging on hold for a bit. Stricker challenged all week long, and snuck into a tie for fourth with Spieth and Ortiz. Dude can always pick himself for September at Whistling Straits, if not enough US guys impress him. Lee and Ortiz have one PGA Tour title between them, and top-four finishes offer encouragement toward the next one. And meet Matthew NeSmith, a junior phenom who had a decent college career at South Carolina, but appeared to pause in development over those four years. His time on the Korn Ferry Tour reaped benefits, and this week, NeSmith lead after 18, and hung around for a seventh-place tie.
European Tour: Johnson claims ninth European Tour title
All right, nine might be a bit misleading. Five of those wins are WGC events, co-sponsored by every tour under the sun. Two of them are major titles, which leaves two more. Both happen to be Saudi International titles, spaced two years apart. In other words, Johnson has never won on European soil, but who really cares beyond this writer? The big man from coastal South Carolina seized the lead on day three and withstood resurgent challenges from Justin Rose and Tony Finau, and also held on to his world number-one ranking.
Over the course of 72 holes, Johnson stumbled twice. His double-bogey on Saturday shrunk his lead, and his bogey at the 16th gave others hope. Rose has rediscovered his accurate iron play, since dropping a set of Mizunos into his bag. Finau, he of the Tongan and Samoan heritage, he of the fire dances, he of myriad close calls and runners-up, finished runner-up again. Some say, if you hang around long enough, you’ll break through. Others say, if you finish runner-up enough times, you’ll make a career of it. Hard to say which will come to pass for Finau. As for Rose, well, he has US Open and Olympic titles on his resume, so he’s just fine, thank you.
The golf world needs the Rose Motel
Life is good when Justin Rose is winning. Don’t ask me to define the why of that statement. We’re talking about a guy who endeared himself to us as an amateur, overcame the most horrendous start to a professional career of all, represented his country in Brasil, when others opted out with little justification, and most recently, funded a tour for European lady professionals, to help them through the Pandemic. Now that he has Mizuno irons in his bag, things seem to be looking up for the Englishman.
Hatton down the hatches
I’m still big on Tyrrell Hatton to shine in 2021, but he did himself no favors with a bogey-bogey start on Sunday. He needs to challenge each time that he’s in the mix, and for a time, he looked to do that on Sunday. Birdies at four and five returned him to level par for the day, but that was it until a third birdie arrived at the 18th hole. Twelve consecutive pars will not do the job for the expressive Englishman.
Hov game, will travel
Viktor Hovland won’t be mistaken for Gary Player just yet. For one thing, he’s taller. Nevertheless, Hovland is making a name as one whose game travels well. Norway’s finest golfer missed not a beat as he moved from challenging last week in San Diego, to finishing top ten in the middle east. The combination of fitness and positive demeanor wear well for the 23-year old, Oklahoma State product.
I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear
OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.
LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break
Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.
Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.
On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.
On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.
On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.
PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home
Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.
On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.
Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?
Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.
Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?
PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates
Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.
Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.
Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.
Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.
We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025
GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.
Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.
Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.
General Albums
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #2
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Scotty Kennon – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Austin Duncan – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Will Chandler – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kevin Roy – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ben Griffin – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ryan Gerard – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Adam Schenk – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kurt Kitayama – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Camilo Villegas – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matti Schmid – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
Pullout Albums
- Denny McCarthy’s custom Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Swag Golf putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Karl Vilips TM MG5 wedges – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- New Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matt Fitzpatrick’s custom Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX
7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)
‘Why would anybody want to change that swing?’ – Brandel Chamblee says PGA Tour star was wrong to change his swing
‘The stupidest freaking thing I’ve ever heard’ – Billy Horschel slams Open idea suggested by Padraig Harrington
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Golfer proudly posts photo of ball mark on iron, receives immediate roasting
WITB Time Machine: Matthew Wolff’s winning WITB, 2019 3M Open
Oakmont Country Club bans Wyndham Clark over locker incident; Reveals specific conditions to earn reinstatement
Adam Scott puts Callaway blades in the bag at Wyndham Championship
Report: LIV star fires caddie and coach in shock shake up
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’
The championship formula: How 3 key stats separate winners from the field
Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
